Time makes the pen grow sharper

Last week I started editing a novelette that I wrote last year. In fact, it was exactly a year ago that I wrote Expendable. I had a lot of hopes for this story when I sent it to The Writers of the Future Contest. It was the best story I'd written to date and I was a nervous wreck while I waited for the results. Well, the story was rejected and coincidently my heart was broken.

I'm not talking about the "I'm never going to love again" kind of broken. That kind of heartbreak is too pink and fluffy for my taste. It also wasn't the "My life is over and I'm never going to have a career" kind of heartbreak. I'm not that emo and I had no desire to use all of my black liquid eyeliner in one night. This was the "What did I do wrong this time?" kind of broken.

I did multiple passes on the story to make sure everything was clean and complete, I passed it around both of my critique groups, I even e-mailed NASA to fact check some things (they never responded, by the way). After all that work it still wasn't good enough. What got me through, other than encouragement from a couple good friends, was the knowledge that Dave wouldn't have rejected it without good reason. At the time I had no idea what that reason may have been, just that somewhere in the document was a flaw.

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while know that I had to revisit the story during NaNo because I wanted to write the sequel novelette. That's when I found a couple of big typos of the "I can't remember what this character's name is" variety. It was humiliating but it dispelled the mystery around the rejection.

When I revisited it last week, it was with the intent to improve the opening and do one final pass to make sure I didn't overlook anything else before I sent it out into the world again. I spent two days on the opening to make sure all the changes fit in seamlessly. Two days was a little longer than I wanted to spend on it but it wasn't unprecedented. Besides, it was all worthwhile in the end. What I didn't anticipate was spending the next week cleaning up the first half of the story. That's right. It was just the first half. What's worse was that I spent two days on six paragraphs. Six paragraphs!

If I'd known how rough it was I wouldn't have submitted it in the first place -- which is the point of this blog. I didn't know. My skills are more refined than they were a year ago. All the purple prose and unfinished thoughts that I've been fixing were invisible to me back then. Heck, they were invisible to me back in November when I re-read the story. This has left me in a strange state. Usually I detest editing. I do it because it's a very necessary step, I'm just not masochistic enough to enjoy it. However this edit has been a joy because each mistake reaffirms how much I've grown in a short amount of time. It's actually made me excited to dive into my flawed short story from March.

When I've finished editing Expendable I'm not going to resubmit it to the contest. Instead I'm going to send it to market. Why? Because I still believe in this story. Despite all the flaws of last year's draft it's still a damn good story and I'm very happy that my increased skills have allowed me to once again make it my best short work to date.

Braving Babylon

I love Halloween. Next to Christmas and my birthday, it’s my favorite holiday. Yes, I love the candy and dressing up – not surprising for a theater girl – but I also love the idea that for one night, you can be anything you want. It doesn’t matter if it’s outlandish and strange (or slightly criminal), it’s perfectly acceptable.

Of course, having a theater background, I rarely limit my costumed shenanigans to October 31^st. I’ve shown up to signings in costume, ushered a play in costume, and I’ve even done a photoshoot as a vampire (complete with live victims). But that means that on Halloween, I really have to pull out the stops.

This year’s masterpiece is the rebel alliance uniform from Babylon 5.

I bought the fabric two years ago with the intention of having in made in time for Dragon*Con. Unfortunately, my travel plans fell through so the costume construction was put of as well. This summer I finally grew tired of tripping over the bag of fabric (it’s a really big bag) so I’m finally tackling it. Part of the reason for the delay in making it was that it was such a daunting task. I’m making this from scratch from two different patterns with similar lines. It also requires me to work with leather, which is something I’ve never done before, and the braided trim has to be dyed and sewn on by hand. I’m no stranger to sewing but that was just too much for me to handle back then. I want this to be as accurate as possible and I didn't believe that my abilities were up to it. I don't feel that way anymore. Why? Because my perspective has changed. 

Two years ago, I decided to take writing seriously. When I had to cancel my Dragon*Con plans, I had yet to go to Dave's Writer's Death Camp -- where my creative eyes were opened -- and most importantly, I had yet to start work on the YA novel. My creative mettle hadn't been tested and therefore, I hadn't developed mental capacity to break down enormous tasks into bite size pieces. Not only did I find the determination to finish by my deadline, I found the perseverance to make the manuscript match my vision. Instead of saying "there's no way that's going to work" I can say "I can do that."

It's making this costume's construction so much easier. If a monkey is thrown into my plan, it's ok because I can deal with it once piece at a time. I can correct it and as Tim Gunn would say, "make it work." If for some reason I find myself over my head, I can go to the expert (my mom in this case) and get her advice on how to make it work. I don't have to wonder if I'm going to finish it in time for Halloween because I know I'll do what it takes to make it happen.

I love being an unstoppable force. It's empowering knowing that I can do anything I set my mind too and after doing it once with success, it's so easy to do it a second, third, and three-hundreth time. No mountain is too high, no task too big. I really can do anything (except kill large spiders and whistle, but that doesn't count).   :) 

To the stars and back

Last week I promised you I would talk about the Superstars Writing Seminar and since I'm a woman of my word, I'm doing just that.

Ahem......

The seminar was freaking awesome!!!






What's that? You want details? I'm sorry, I can't do that. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.  :)


Oh, alright. I'll give you more, but only because I'm a softie (and because it was freaking awesome).

If you're not already aware of what the seminar is, it's a nuts and bolts discussion of publishing presented by Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Eric Flint, Dave Farland/Wolverton, Brandon Sanderson, and a few guest speakers. This year the guest speakers were James A. Owen (the A stands for awesome), Dean Wesley Smith, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch (who unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute).

I want to make sure that you noticed that this seminar is chiefly about publishing and not writing. We did briefly touch on the subject of writing but the primary focus of this seminar is publishing, which is why this seminar is so essential. The industry is changing so fast and if you don't know how to navigate the changing labyrinth, you're going to become someone's lunch.

Don't become someone's lunch.

If you're writing for your own enjoyment, then this seminar isn't for you. But if you're like me and want to make money doing what you love, then you need to pay attention to what these seasoned professionals have to say -- and believe me, they have a lot to say. I have 18 pages of notes.

If you're allergic to people and learning about publishing is more than enough awesome for you, then follow the link (http://superstarswritingseminars.com/index.php/dvds-a-mp3s) and buy the discs. If you want the full freaking awesome experience then you need to pull out the credit card and attend in person because the best parts of the seminar happen between the lectures. That's when you network.

This is one of the best and easiest places to network. There's a private Facebook group so we could get acquainted before we arrived (and stay in contact after we left) so many of us didn't need to break the ice. As for the attendees we didn't know, we learned really fast that asking "what do you write?" was the perfect ice breaker. During the seminar there were many short breaks, in addition to meal times and BarCon which gave us ample opportunity to break said ice and converse.

I don't want you to think that it was just the attendees getting geeky together. The pros were there too.  And honestly, if you go and don't ask at least one of the speakers to join you for a meal, you're missing out. Some of the best discussions with the pros happened after hours.

If you've been debating about going to a seminar, I highly recommend this one. Yes, it's expensive, but it's tax deductible and worth every penny. The friends, contacts, and opportunities I gained from this experience made it more than worth the expense.

Can you rewind that?

Sorry about the long gap between blogs. I spent the first half of last week in Las Vegas attending the Superstars Writing Seminar and the last half working both day jobs. (As a side note, I don't recommend going back to work the day you fly back.) The seminar was beyond amazing and I'll write about it over the next few weeks. However, right now I want to talk about the Avengers.

Please withhold all groans. This isn't another pointless review. We all know how awesome the movie is (and if you don't because you haven't seen it yet, what's wrong with you?) and that Joss Whedon is a genius. Besides, this is a writing blog, not a movie review blog. So, why bring it up? Because it's very well written. Now, I'm not saying that it's a masterpiece of cinema, but it is well constructed. In fact, I want to go back and see it several times so I can pick it apart and study it.

Two years ago I went to Dave Farland's Writer's Death Camp. As part of the course, we watched two movies (Avatar and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek) and looked for the various emotional beats and storytelling devices we'd been studying. Dave did warn us that once we learned how to do this, we wouldn't be able to simply watch a movie anymore. We would always be in dissect mode. He was right about that, but it hasn't ruined movies for me. In my opinion it enhances the viewing experience. Now, a good film can entertain both halves of my brain.

You see, last night, my right-brain fan girl was very happy. I was squeeing throughout the film. It was Avengers, it was action packed, it was Joss (squee! I love you Joss!), it had schwarma. What's not to love?

Well, there were a few inconsistencies, which my left-brain was more than happy to point out. But overall, my analytical left-brain loved it too. Why? Because the beats and devices were exactly where they needed to be in order to keep the viewer engaged. The big fight scene on the hover-ship stands out in particular. The way they jumped from character to character while moving the story forward was brilliant. We care about each of the Avengers in some way and exploiting that affection is, in my opinion, the ultimate device.

(spoiler alert)

Each Avenger is placed in individual danger as well as the larger group danger that the ship is facing, which is on top of the overlying threat of Loki destroying the world. At the beginning of the movie, the Earth is placed in danger by Loki's bid for world domination. This is also when Hawkeye is placed in personal danger when he's mind hacked by Loki. In the big hover-ship fight scene, each danger/threat is dealt with one by one. It's just done in such rapid succession that you don't notice unless you know what to look for.

The inciting incident for the fight is when Hawkeye shows up with his goons, shuts down engine 3, and attacks the bridge. While Cap and Tony are dealing with the engine repair (group danger), Natasha is running from the Hulk (personal danger). Of course, the Hulk's smashing is an additional threat to the ship which is why Thor stepped in (and he needed to save the damsel in distress). (I'd say that this places Thor in personal danger but it's hard to argue that when he's a god.) The Cap and Tony are each placed in personal danger when Hawkeye's goons attack and the engine rotors reach top speed. Since the group threat is mostly dealt with, they can deal with the personal danger quickly and get back to saving the ship. Meanwhile, back on the bridge, the goons have been dealt with but not before Hawkeye shuts down the computers and another engine (group danger). Cap finishes the goons and saves Tony just in time, which also saves the ship, just in time.

Ok, let's pause for a tally.

Personal danger: Cap (X)  Tony (X)  Natasha (X) Thor (in progress)  Hawkeye ()

Group danger: Engine 3 (X)  Hulk (in progress)  Bridge (X)

Earth danger: ???

Alright, back to the frey. Natasha puts on her big girl panties (no, that wasn't a deleted scene. I was speaking figuratively) and takes out Hawkeye, which of course solves his personal danger by literally knocking Loki out of his head. The final ship danger, the Hulk, is dealt with by a nameless, but not forgettable anonymous airman. The hulk's removal and descent could be argued as personal danger, but like Thor, his indestructible nature makes it a hard point to prove.

Now that the Personal and Group dangers have been dealt with they can get back the saving the earth, right? Wrong. Loki breaks out of his cell, tricks Thor (another arguable personal danger) and kills the lovable squire (personal loss for the group). Do you see what he did there? In typical Joss fashion, the plucky heroes are given a reason to put their differences aside, work together and kick Loki in the balls. Plus, it gave the heroes the final piece of the puzzle so they knew exactly where to go to do said ball kicking.

Now, this is just what I've picked up upon first viewing. I know there were some things that I didn't pick up on, so feel free to add to the discussion. Because, lets face it. There can't be too much discussion on the writing brilliance of Joss.